Con Man
by Do the Gabriel
Summary: Roy, Sawyer, Johnny, Kate, and Locke contemplate their life choices and the paths they took on the eve of Sawyer's death. Roy in particular feels remorseful for all the crimes he's committed, and decides to confide in Johnny, his best friend.


Con Man

a story in verse

Kate Austen, 2004

"Sawyer," she asks,

Afraid her question will be met

Only by silence

"Sawyer," she tries again

Only the wind in answer

She falls down in tears,

Watering the Earth as she

Mourns the loss of her

Only friend

James "Sawyer" Ford, 2004

_What's in a name?_

Shakespeare said that

He was right, too

But,

What _is_ in a name?

Everything

Everything is

A name tells a story which

Only the wise can read

His name tells a story;

A story without a happy ending

Seemingly, anyway

Death is a gift,

He decided

With death comes the

Much-needed peace and quiet that

You see in the

Still of their bodies, the

Serene expressions on their faces

Yes,

Death is a gift

Roy DeSoto, 1976

You can't blame him;

It's kill or be killed

You can't blame him for

Keeping secrets,

Telling lies

After all,

What's one man's life to millions of dollars?

Dixie McCall, 1976

He's been watching her for

Quite some time now

Watching,

Waiting,

Watching,

Waiting

He's ready to pounce

She's ready to stop him

Experience is perhaps the

Greatest gift of life

When

Breathing

Is a reflex,

When

Blood and brain

Rush together,

A beautiful melody

Playing to the same rhythm of

A beating heart

She has experience

Plenty of it

But he stalks her so swiftly;

Like an _animal_, almost

She's its prey

You can tell when

Someone stops caring,

Because

They don't just ignore you;

They are actively indifferent

The man,

The one following her

She cannot see his face;

He wears a hat pulled down low;

But she can hear his breathing and

Watch the way he walks

She would scream at the

Flash of a knife

But the flash of red hair,

When his hat slips

It shocks her

Still as the grave,

Because…

… It can't be

It can't be him

She won't believe it

She should have believed it

John Locke, 2004

There are a lot of things

People take for granted

Some,

They just imagine they

Take for granted,

As an excuse to

Feel miserable, and

Misunderstood

Others,

They do take for granted,

Like the belief that

If they walk far enough,

They'll find the ocean

They'll feel its breeze

On their face

Smell the salt,

A rich scent,

Heavy on the air

And they'll run beside it,

And feel the pure,

Beautiful _energy_

What if they could

Never walk there

In the first place?

Yes, there are a lot of things

That

People take for granted

Roy DeSoto, 1976

The knife gives way,

Shrouded in victory

The window gives way,

And he leaps into the

Warm summer's night

The string gives way,

And the bag falls to the ground

A gift of green bills

Scatter about his feet;

They are bowing to him—

At least he can imagine they are

He picks up the greatest gift,

And realizes

What didn't give way:

His conscience

His heart fills with bitter remorse

John Gage, 1976

The days fall away like

Autumn leaves

He doesn't feel anything

But the pain his underneath

And it's real

His partner doesn't,

Either

Feel anything

But in a different way,

Somehow

Almost as if the man with red hair

Has blocked it all out

It's been weeks since

She died, but

Nothing's changed

As if time's standing still for her,

Giving her another chance to

Breathe, another chance to

Smile, and another chance to

Experience life,

Not death

He looks up abruptly as

Roy walks into the room

He smiles

Because Roy will

Distract him, and

Make him feel better

Roy always does

He stands up

He walks towards Roy,

Starts to say hello—

He shakes his head for Johnny to sit back down

So he sits

Roy leaves

John waits for a while

He doesn't come back

What if Roy will never

Come back, what if Roy's...?

John leaps up and chases after

He's never far behind

James "Sawyer" Ford, 2004

What he would do for

A relief from this pain

Just

One fleeting moment,

Was all he needed

One moment was

Enough to look

Look back and think,

Wow. I've done the right thing.

But has he?

He'll never know,

Because that moment

Didn't come soon enough

And now he's dead

Kate Austen, 2004

Research is easy

But it's easier

When you know

Just who it is you're researching

How many names

Can one man have?

She has decided that

For him,

There is no limit

She runs through them all again:

David McLarsty,

Harry Bishop,

Joey Deshoneal,

Roy DeSoto,

Eli Harbor,

Ricky Michaelson,

And

Anthony Cooper

Too many names

And it doesn't make sense

Wasn't there supposed to be a

"Sawyer" in there?

Roy DeSoto, 1976

Got back late from

Work again

Kids stayed up waiting till

Nine-thirty

At least they have a dad

Had to wake up early

For work again the next morning,

But this gig was worth it:

Two million dollars?

Why,

That's enough for

A vacation to Australia!

John Locke, 2004

He used to,

But now he can hardly remember

Why his name is John

Wasn't John the

Name of a friend of his

Father's?

Something like that,

Anyway

Who knows,

And who cares?

It's all the same to him

And he has

Worse problems, now

Walking,

The ability to walk,

Was a gift

But it's been taken away

Why does

Nothing go right for him?

John Gage, 1976

Maybe he's being paranoid, but

Roy seems to be acting

Not himself

The guy hasn't talked to him

For hours

Hasn't talked to

Any of the firemen,

For that matter

Cap called Roy into his office

He's waiting for him to come out now

But he wonders if

Anything will have changed

When he does

Roy DeSoto, 1976

They're getting suspicious

Not good

He's not acting like himself and

He knows it, but

He can't seem to

Keep going the

Same way he used to

After all,

Dixie was a friend

She'd never done anything wrong

Certainly nothing to deserve…

What she got

He scolds himself now,

For being weak

After all,

It's killed or be killed

Humans weren't made to

Cater to each others' needs

They are just animals

He forces a smile when

He passes Johnny in the garage

Hopefully

He doesn't actually

Know anything and is just

Worried like everyone else

He wonders again why

Everyone worries about him

It's not like

He deserves it, and frankly,

It's not typical for

The other guys to

Worry so much

Gosh-

He must be ripping at the seams!

Kate Austen, 2004

She beats the ground,

She pounds the ground,

Beside the dead man's grave

She beats it to a rhythm:

_Why, why, why_

_Did this_

_Happen to me?!_

_Why, why, why_

_Did this_

_Happen to you?!_

It is hardly beautiful,

But it makes her cry anyway

John Locke, 2004

'

If he could just

Tell someone,

Maybe things would

Turn out all right

But deep down inside of him,

He knows that can't happen

How can he tell someone

When he has no words with

Which to speak?

The tubes,

The ones in his arms

Ugly things,

But they'll keep him alive

Not for long, but

Maybe it would be long enough

John Gage, 1976

A great big mess

That's what this is

He's been following Roy

For a week, yet

He still doesn't believe

What he's been seeing

He tugs his sweaty shirt

Away from his chest

He wishes he was somewhere else…

And that's when he sees it—

The front door of the

DeSoto residence

Slams shut and

Roy stalks out, fast

Roy walks to his car, and…

He drives away

A few moments later,

Joanne runs out after him,

But she's too late

He's probably out of the neighborhood and

Cruising the freeway by now

Joanne cries out, but

Where are the kids?

It's Saturday,

They're not at school

…. Oh no….

….. Please, no….

He feels weak and

Sinks to his knees in the

Rough grass

So Roy took the kids and

Left Joanne with

Nothing

Roy DeSoto, 1976

The tires screech as

He makes an abrupt U-Turn

A familiar sound, but

He can't leave this time

Somehow… he feels more

Connected with LA than

He had in

Alabama, for example

More connected with

These friends, this family

That's why

He took the kids

And it's why he's going back

He's lost in thought,

And maybe that's why

He crashes, but,

Whatever the cause

His two little kids are

Gone to him

Kate Austen, DATE UNKNOWN

Once she went to

Visit the grave and

Nothing was there, except for

Grass and

A little dirt

It was all gone and

There was nothing left to

Live for

John Locke, 2004

One of his machines is

Beeping;

If he's dying,

Why can he still hear it?

The world is becoming a

Blend of colors,

Getting whiter and whiter and then—

It's gone

John Gage, 1976

He'll get on

Without Roy

It will be

Unfair if he doesn't

After all,

If Roy had cared

He wouldn't have

Kept secrets,

Told lies

He would have stayed long enough to

At least say good-bye

Turns out the man's a

Wanted criminal

Some friend, huh?

So-

Good-bye, Roy

And good riddance

End

EPILOGUE

The man trudges along to

The same rhythm

It's been eating away at him for

Years:

_Why, why, why_

_Did I do this_

_To you?_

_Why, why, why_

_Did I do this_

_To myself?_

The beat helps to

Clear his mind;

And he'll need focus to

Pull this one

60,000,000 bucks?

That's enough to

Pay for a psychologist!


End file.
